Judgment on Ammon

Against the ^aAmmonites.
Thus says the Lord:

“Has Israel no sons?

Has he no heir?

Why then does ¹Milcom inherit ^bGad,

And his people dwell in its cities?

2

^aTherefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,

“That I will cause to be heard an alarm of war

In ^bRabbah of the Ammonites;

It shall be a desolate mound,

And her ¹villages shall be burned with fire.

Then Israel shall take possession of his inheritance,” says the Lord.

3

“Wail, O ^aHeshbon, for Ai is plundered!

Cry, you daughters of Rabbah,

^bGird yourselves with sackcloth!

Lament and run to and fro by the walls;

For ¹Milcom shall go into captivity

With his ^cpriests and his princes together.

4

Why ^ado you boast in the valleys,

¹Your flowing valley, O ^bbacksliding daughter?

Who trusted in her ^ctreasures, ^dsaying,

‘Who will come against me?’

5

Behold, I will bring fear upon you,”

Says the Lord God of hosts,

“From all those who are around you;

You shall be driven out, everyone headlong,

And no one will gather those who wander off.

6

But ^aafterward I will bring back

The captives of the people of Ammon,” says the Lord.

Judgment on Edom

7 ^aAgainst Edom.
Thus says the Lord of hosts:

^b“Is wisdom no more in Teman?

^cHas counsel perished from the prudent?

Has their wisdom ^dvanished?

8

Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of ^aDedan!

For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,

The time that I will punish him.

9

^aIf grape‑gatherers came to you,

Would they not leave some gleaning grapes?

If thieves by night,

Would they not destroy until they have enough?

10

^aBut I have made Esau bare;

I have uncovered his secret places,

And he shall not be able to hide himself.

His descendants are plundered,

His brethren and his neighbors,

And ^bhe is no more.

11

Leave your fatherless children,

I will preserve them alive;

And let your widows trust in Me.”

12 For thus says the Lord: “Behold, ^athose whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunk. And are you the one who will altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink of it. 13 For ^aI have sworn by Myself,” says the Lord, “that ^bBozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a ¹waste, and a curse. And all its cities shall be perpetual ²wastes.”

14

^aI have heard a message from the Lord,

And an ambassador has been sent to the nations:

“Gather together, come against her,

And rise up to battle!

15

“For indeed, I will make you small among nations,

Despised among men.

16

Your fierceness has deceived you,

The ^apride of your heart,

O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock,

Who hold the height of the hill!

^bThough you make your ^cnest as high as the eagle,

^dI will bring you down from there,” says the Lord.

17

“Edom also shall be an astonishment;

^aEveryone who goes by it will be astonished

And will hiss at all its plagues.

18

^aAs in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah

And their neighbors,” says the Lord,

“No one shall remain there,

Nor shall a son of man dwell in it.

19

“Behold,^a he shall come up like a lion from ^bthe ¹floodplain of the Jordan

Against the dwelling place of the strong;

But I will suddenly make him run away from her.

And who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her?

For ^cwho is like Me?

Who will arraign Me?

And ^dwho is that shepherd

Who will withstand Me?”

20

^aTherefore hear the counsel of the Lord that He has taken against Edom,

And His purposes that He has proposed against the inhabitants of Teman:

Surely the least of the flock shall ¹draw them out;

Surely He shall make their dwelling places desolate with them.

21

^aThe earth shakes at the noise of their fall;

At the cry its noise is heard at the Red Sea.

22

Behold, ^aHe shall come up and fly like the eagle,

And spread His wings over Bozrah;

The heart of the mighty men of Edom in that day shall be

Like the heart of a woman in birth pangs.

Judgment on Damascus

23 ^aAgainst Damascus.

^b“Hamath and Arpad are shamed,

For they have heard bad news.

They are fainthearted;

^cThere is ¹trouble on the sea;

It cannot be quiet.

24

Damascus has grown feeble;

She turns to flee,

And fear has seized her.

^aAnguish and sorrows have taken her like a woman in ¹labor.

25

Why is ^athe city of praise not deserted, the city of My joy?

26

^aTherefore her young men shall fall in her streets,

And all the men of war shall be cut off in that day,” says the Lord of hosts.

27

“I^a will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,

And it shall consume the palaces of Ben‑Hadad.”

Judgment on Kedar and Hazor

28 ^aAgainst Kedar and against the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon shall strike.
Thus says the Lord:

“Arise, go up to Kedar,

And devastate ^bthe men of the East!

29

Their ^atents and their flocks they shall take away.

They shall take for themselves their curtains,

All their vessels and their camels;

And they shall cry out to them,

^b‘Fear is on every side!’

30

“Flee, get far away! Dwell in the depths,

O inhabitants of Hazor!” says the Lord.

“For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you,

And has conceived a plan against you.

31

“Arise, go up to ^athe wealthy nation that dwells securely,” says the Lord,

“Which has neither gates nor bars,

^bDwelling alone.

32

Their camels shall be for booty,

And the multitude of their cattle for plunder.

I will ^ascatter to all winds those ¹in the farthest corners,

And I will bring their calamity from all its sides,” says the Lord.

33

“Hazor ^ashall be a dwelling for jackals, a desolation forever;

No one shall reside there,

Nor son of man dwell in it.”

Judgment on Elam

34 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against ^aElam, in the ^bbeginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, 35 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:

‘Behold, I will break ^athe ¹bow of Elam,

The foremost of their might.

36

Against Elam I will bring the four winds

From the four quarters of heaven,

And scatter them toward all those winds;

There shall be no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go.

37

For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies

And before those who seek their life.

^aI will bring disaster upon them,

My fierce anger,’ says the Lord;

‘And I will send the sword after them

Until I have consumed them.

38

I will ^aset My throne in Elam,

And will destroy from there the king and the princes,’ says the Lord.

39

‘But it shall come to pass ^ain the latter days:

I will bring back the captives of Elam,’ says the Lord.”